A non-gambling form of poker looks set for a massive popularity boost in China after Alibaba Sports and Oceans Sports and Entertainment agreed to a sports partnership for the latter's Match Poker product.
Match Poker, created by the International Federation of Poker (IFP), is a team-based, non-gambling version of poker where players play for points rather than money and hands are dealt via smartphones instead of physical playing cards; it has been likened to an eSports equivalent of poker.
Partnering with Alibaba could be a stroke of genius on the part of Oceans Sports, as the Chinese e-commerce company is one of the largest retailers in the world and immensely popular with Chinese citizens.